Inga is “crazy excited” you’re signing up. Now give yourself 60 seconds to sum up everything about yourself. They know you hate writing about yourself, but who doesn’t? And you can always change it later.

These are just the first few steps to take your formerly personal dating quest to the public.

On OKCupid.com, anxious avatars like Inga help users find mates by taking lightweight tests using a hip, colorful and student friendly Web site run by 20- and 30-somethings rather than the PhD-wielding geriatrics of matchmakers eHarmony.com and Match.com. The site’s estimated 500,000 active members compare their answers to those of others, and the dating game begins.

According to the authority of all things Internet, the Pew Internet and American Life Project, dating in the digital age is much more than a few personality tests. The project reported that 15 percent of American adults – about 30 million people – say they know someone who has been in a long-term relationship or married someone they met online.

“It’s socially acceptable in this day and age,” said philosophy pre-law junior Elizabeth Hall. “They ask you so much about yourself and match you with someone similar, so there is a common ground.”

But a common ground can only go so far for some students.

For a friend of political science senior Cynthia Davila, love is much more than an attachment to a computer.

“She would say ‘I”m so in love,’ but you don’t even know who that person is,” Davila said.

“Three months ago, she met someone else and fell in love, then more in love, and now she’s getting married.”

After Davila took eHarmony’s free personality test just for kicks, the site informed her it was unable to match her personality with other users.

Dr. Neil Clark Warren, founder of eHarmony, developed the personality test based on his “29 Key Dimensions of Compatibility,” which consists of 430 questions.

But those patient enough to wade through 430 questions could find their match – for a price. Though the site claims 45 eHarmony couples get married every day, pairing up costs $49.95 per month, or $249.95 a year. And with its claim of roughly 12 million profiles, their success rate is merely a fraction compared to the number of users like Davila who were kicked to the curb.

A similar Web site, Match.com, offers a personal matchmaking service – think of it as an accountant for your love life – and registration is free. But to tap into the approximately 15 million active profiles worldwide, you have to adopt a one-, three- or six-month payment plan. Unlike these more adult-oriented and clinical sites, OKCupid is free. The site’s co-founders Chris Coyne, Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Christian Rudder are also Harvard economics and mathematics graduates and masterminds behind Sparknotes.com.

Despite a less intimidating profile kit and a MySpace-generation interface, students would rather the real deal than a time killer.

“You shouldn’t be matched with the wrong things,” said Kelsey Van Bree, political science freshman. “They should match you with what matters.”

Isabell Durand, international business freshman, and Hall both agree privacy and security are also issues facing online dating Web sites like OKCupid.

“People take advantage of it,” Hall said. “You should have to pay to weed out the jokers.”

Though Hall said she prefers “more traditional ways” when it comes to the dating world, she thinks there just might be something in online dating for those more attuned to the digital world.

“For others it gives them an opportunity,” she said. “Some people just aren’t social.”

Despite the younger audiences many social-networking and matchmaking sites attempt to attract, many students would rather stick with a more analog approach.

“I think it’s easier meeting people just by walking around,” said Andrew Austermann, general business freshman. “College is a social environment – you don’t need to be on the computer (to meet someone) when you could just walk outside.”

“We type differently then when we talk.,” Davila said. “At this age (online dating) isn’t necessary. We’re not desperate yet.”

Alex Woodward can be reached at [email protected].